Enter: Sasha Tsumane
by Namii Levee
Summary: It's a time of darkness for the Hidden Leaf. No one can be trusted, not after Orochimaru's last devastating attack. However, a lone shinobi manages to slip past the Leaf's defenses and pose as one of their Genin. What is her true motive behind this?
1. A New Visitor

**Disclaimer: When I own Naruto, you are first on my death list, Orochimaru...**

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Prologue: The Hidden Leaf Village is now trying to rebuild after the attack planned by Orochimaru, so they are not as trustworthy as they once were before the attack. The Hidden Leaf and Hidden Sand's trust is broken, and the latter is trying desperately to mend it. As they try, a tragedy strikes when the Hidden Sand's top ninja, the ninja that they depend on the most, leaves. She may not look like much, but she is something much more than a tool...and she brings a whole new meaning to the word 'shinobi'... 

**_Mysterious Voice _**- refers to when a mysterious voice speaks to Sasha

**Inner Sakura **- refers to when Inner Sakura is speaking

_Thoughts/Flashbacks _- refers to when the character is thinking or having flashbacks

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She stood in front of the enormous gates that surrounded the Hidden Leaf Village. She had surely mistaken it to be small in size, but she had been wrong before.

"Wow. Leaf Village sure is a big village," she said impressively, "Even bigger than I thought."

Saying this, she began to walk into the village. When she was within ten feet of the gates, she heard a voice call out to her, "Hey, wait a moment! Come over here!" Turning her head towards the voice, the she spotted a small stand with two ninja inside. As she came closer, she noted that the two ninja were Chunin.

"Yeah? What is it?" She asked questioningly, "Am I not allowed to go into the village?"

"Uh, no," the chunin who had spoken to her said hesitantly, "It's just that we need your information if you are not from the Hidden Leaf Village."

The girl looked surprised and replied, "Oh, okay. I thought that you were going to arrest me or something."

The chunin smiled and readied his pencil and clipboard. "Name?"

"Sasha Tsumane."

"Hidden Village?"

"I'm from the Hidden Sand Village."

"Are you a ninja? What rank?"

"Yeah, I'm a ninja." She pulled out a headband that bore the Hidden Sand Village's crest. "But I'd rather not discuss my rank."

The chunin quickly jotted down the given information, but stopped short of the Hidden Village section. He had seen Sand ninja before and knew that they were dangerous, usually from their appearance, but this girl was different.

She wore a large jacket, that came down to her calves, over some kind of black outfit that was obstructing the chunin's view. She had bandages wrapped around the lower part of her legs, just below the knees, and the hint of bandages on her right arm. If her clothing wasn't suspicious enough, her features were.

Long, deep red hair fell down her back and to her knees. A square of black cloth, with the kanji for "strength", was tied across the back of her head to prevent her bangs from falling into a set of very extraordinary, and very familiar, eyes; The girl had almond-shaped, sky-blue eyes with almost black circles around them.

The chunin knew those eyes from a Sand ninja that had previously come to the village for the Chunin Exams. No, this girl could not be a part of the Hidden Sand Village. She looked too innocent.

When he finished writing down the information, the two ninja nodded to her and said, "Thank you. You may now go into the Leaf Village."

As soon as she was out of hearing range, the two chunin quietly discussed the new visitor.

"We have to give this report to the Fifth Hokage. If this girl is anything like the three Sand ninja who came for the Chunin Exam, then we've got big trouble on our hands." As the two ninja raced away towards the Hokage's quarters, a Genin ninja quickly snuck out of his hiding place, wondering just who the two shinobi were discussing.

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**Just who exactly are these chunin talking about? The girl who seems innocent? Nah, she can't be dangerous...can she? Read it when it comes...'A Danger or Not?'. Please review if you read this story.**


	2. A Danger or Not?

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine. If it was, then Orochimaru will die in the next few minutes.**

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In the last chapter: Kotetsu and Izumo discovered that an unknown shinobi was walking freely through the village after passing through the gates. They both race off to alert the Hokage when another figure leaps from his hiding place and runs off as well to tell his sensei the news. Now let's see if this person is acutally a threat or not...

**_Mysterious Voice _**- refers to when a mysterious voice speaks to Sasha

**Inner Sakura** - refers to when Inner Sakura is speaking

_Thoughts/Flashbacks _- refers to when the character is thinking or having flashbacks

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Sasha looked all around the village, admiring its craftsmanship, people, and most of all, restaurants. After coming all the way from the Hidden Sand Village with nothing in her pack but some bread, cheese, and a half-cup of water, she was very hungry.

"This place is so cool," she said impressively, "But I need to find a place with food and water. Not to mention an apartment as well."

She suddenly spotted something that made her mouth water in moments; It was a ramen shop. Sasha stared at the shop with adoration, and then she burst with joy.

"Alright! RAMEN!! I love ramen!!"

She could smell the delicious ramen waiting for her, so hot and warm and sweet. She inhaled deeply, taking in the scent.

"Ahhh, nothing smells better than the scent of cooking ramen. I'm getting some!"

And with that, she dashed into the shop and took the seat nearest to the ramen cooker. A young girl, probably around her early teens, stood there as if she were waiting for her order.

"One bowl of your best ramen, please!" Sasha said cheerfully, "And can you make it a big bowl?"

The girl bowed and prepared the ramen right before her eyes. Within moments, a large bowl of steaming hot ramen sat right in front of Sasha waiting to be eaten.

She couldn't hold her happiness back any longer and immediately grabbed a pair of chopsticks from the holder next to her.

"It's meal time!" She said as soon as she broke them apart and began slurping the noodles. She nearly broke out in tears. The ramen was so delicious!!

"Do you like it?" The girl told her happily, "The ramen you are eating is our specialty, barbequed pork miso ramen."

Sasha exclaimed, "So that's why it tastes so good! Barbequed pork is my absolute favorite! But you guys make it so good, it feels like I'm in heaven!"

The girl beamed with happiness when she heard her customer's compliment; in fact, she was so proud that she blushed a deep red.

"Thank you very much!" She managed to squeak out before she blushed even redder, "My father and I take much pride in preparing the ramen for our customers. You are, by far, the best customer we've had that has given us such a meaningful comment about our ramen!"

Sasha smiled and finished her bowl of ramen. "So, if I may ask, what is your name? I have to know who the owners of this shop are," she said.

The girl bowed deeply and replied, "My name is Ayame, and my father's name is Teuchi. Who are you?"

"No one special," Sasha shrugged casually, "Just a traveler going here and there. I'm not really anyone."

"Well, whoever you are," the ramen girl, Ayame, said, "For you generous comment, that bowl of ramen you ate is now free of charge!"

Sasha beamed happily. "Wow, thanks a lot!" _It's a good thing too, because I didn't bring any money with me._

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Naruto Uzumaki ran as fast as he could through his village, apparently searching for someone. Every now and then he would occasionally glance inside the shops and restaurants he passed by, just to make sure if the person he was searching for was there.

"Man, where could he be?" He asked himself, "Whenever I need to see him, I can't find him! Where on earth is he? Ah!" He suddenly spotted a girl with bright pink hair suddenly coming out of the library carrying a huge stack of very heavy books.

Naruto moved in behind her and suddenly called out, "What's up, Sakura?" which startled the girl so badly that she dropped all of her books. Unfortunately, for Naruto, every single one of them fell on him and he was soon buried beneath the high pile of anvils.

"NARUTO!!" Sakura raged as she wrenched him out of the pile of books. **Damn you, Naruto! It took me ages to perfectly balance those books! You're going to pay! **Inner Sakura shrieked.

Fortunately, Naruto was not crushed from the weight of the books, but as soon as Sakura pulled him free, she began pounding him on the top of the head. When she finished beating him up, Naruto had five new lumps on his head where Sakura had landed her fists on.

"Ouch, Sakura," Naruto whined, "That really hurt a lot!"

"Well it serves you right!" Sakura picked up her books and continued on her way. It was then when Naruto remembered what he wanted to ask her.

"Oh yeah," Naruto asked, "Hey Sakura, have you seen Kakashi-sensei around? I have to tell him something important."

Sakura shrugged and responded, "I don't know where he is. He's probably at the training grounds or something. He might even be in the Hokage's office right now for another mission." **How the hell should I know where the pervert is?! He always disappears when we need to find him! **And with that, she turned around and didn't say another word.

Naruto sighed and continued on his way. _Well that didn't help at all!_ He thought angrily as he leapt from building to building, still searching for his sensei. Naruto suddenly felt something get caught around his foot as he prepared to leapt to the next building and lost his footing. Just when he prepared for a dramatic landing, he fell face-first onto the hard earth.

"What the hell just tripped me?!" Naruto screamed angrily as he rubbed his throbbing face.

"You tripped over your own feet, stupid." A voice said above him. Naruto looked up to find a familiar man looking down on him. "Kakashi-sensei!"

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Kakashi Hatake was a man in his late-twenties who enjoyed reading "Make-out Paradise" novels (and was reading one at that exact moment). He was tall with spiky, gray hair that stuck up. He wore a navy blue outfit and a ninja vest that identified a high-ranking ninja; in this case, Kakashi was a Jounin, or an elite ninja. A headband with the Leaf Village symbol covered his left eye, as did a mask that covered the lower part of his face from the nose down.

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"Did you by any chance see who tripped me right now?" Naruto asked him.

Kakashi sighed. "I already told you, Naruto, that you tripped over your own big feet. You're so clumsy."

Naruto could feel a nerve popping. His sensei was always ridiculing him about his tactlessness, or his weirdness, or something. He felt that he was one teasing away from bashing Kakashi's face.

_Keep cool_, he thought quickly, _I have to tell Kakashi sensei about what I heard._

"Oh, yeah. Uh, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Hmm?" Kakashi looked up from his book at Naruto. "What is it?"

Naruto hesitated a moment. "Well, you know the two guys that patrol the East Gate?"

"Yes. What about them?"

"I, uh, overheard them talking about some new visitor that came in from the Hidden Sand Village. They were saying that they needed to get the information to Granny Tsunade right away," Naruto blurted out.

Kakashi froze when hearing this. _A new visitor from the Hidden Sand Village?_ He thought quickly, _if they needed to get the information to the Hokage that quickly, then we could have big trouble on our hands!_

"Naruto," Kakashi asked, "Did you get a good look at the newcomer?" Naruto shook his head in response. "Think! You must have seen something."

Thinking hard, Naruto replied, "Well, the newcomer wore a large coat and carried a heavy-looking backpack. Oh, and he had red hair."

As soon as he finished, Kakashi leapt up to the building above them and began going north. Naruto, stunned and confused, raced after him until he finally caught up.

"Kakashi-sensei, what are you planning?" Naruto asked his sensei curiously.

Kakashi shrugged off the question and replied, "I'll tell you when we find that person. For all we know, Leaf Village might as well be in danger."

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**What is Kakashi planning to do? And is this new shinobi really such a threat? Read it when it comes...'Kakashi v.s. Sasha'. By the way, please leave some reviews!

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Teaser: _"Interesting," Kakashi said, "And if I may ask, what is your name?"_

_"Sasha Tsumane of the Hidden Village of Sand. But enough talk, let's fight!"_

_And without warning, Sasha leapt at Kakashi and threw a senbon, a long needle like the kind used for acupuncture, at him. He simple leapt out of the way and landed behind her, holding a kunai to her throat. Instead of feeling frightened, Sasha felt pleased. This was going to become an interesting fight._


	3. Kakashi vs Sasha

**Disclaimer: How I wish I could own Naruto, so that way I can have fun writing out gruesome deaths for Orochimaru.**

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In the last chapter: Naruto races all throughout the Hidden Leaf Village to find and tell his sensei about the new ninja. When he finally does, Kakashi turns serious and thinks that the newcomer is a possible threat to the village. Together, he and Naruto form a plan when they decide to capture the shinobi when they see him. Unknown to them, they're going to find out just what kind of fighter this Sand shinobi is...

**_Mysterious Voice _**- refers to when a mysterious voice speaks to Sasha

**Inner Sakura **- refers to when Inner Sakura is speaking

_Thoughts/Flashbacks _- refers to when the character is thinking or having flashbacks

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Sasha finished slurping up her third bowl of ramen. Ayame had insisted that she eat more ramen until her hunger was satisfied, and she knew she couldn't turn down this once-in-a-lifetime chance. As she drained the last drop of the soup, she felt her hunger suddenly go away.

Sasha sighed in content; eating three free bowls of barbequed pork miso ramen was heaven. If only she could eat like this everyday, but she knew that she couldn't. Sooner or later, she would have to return to the Hidden Sand Village, her home; she always had to, because she did not have any other home to go to.

Suddenly, Sasha heard two people speaking rather loudly outside of the ramen shop. By the sound of the voices, one was probably a grown man while the other was just a child.

"I'm telling you, Kakashi-sensei, that I saw the guy walk right past here. He was a Sand ninja that had long red hair and a heavy backpack." The boy argued loudly.

"Really?" _Probably the sensei. _"Well there isn't any evidence around here that proves your theory," the second voice said.

Sasha stirred at the child's description of her. The two ninja at the gates probably alerted the Hokage in the area and sent a warning that there was a Sand ninja in the village. Either way, she had to get out of there; she was too vulnerable.

Standing up, she picked up her pack and slung it over her back. "Thanks for the ramen, Ayame. I'll be going now."

"Come back soon!" Ayame called to her. Sasha carefully turned her back to the two ninja and began walking towards the forest. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that the two ninja were still bickering and sighed in relief.

_They didn't notice me at all, _she thought gratefully but suddenly realized something, _and they didn't make any sign that they noticed me, not a single one. I know that they sensed me, unless… _Now knowing what they had done, Sasha kept her guard up.

"They're pretty smart to be doing that," she said to herself. Sensing someone nearby, she turned around only to find an upturned barrel beside her. The barrel suddenly exploded and emitted a large quantity of smoke. Once the smoke cleared, a small figure pointed triumphantly at her.

"Hold it right there!" He said dramatically. He looked no older than twelve years old and wore a Leaf Village headband that kept blonde hair from falling into his face, where a stupid little grin showed itself. His outfit consisted of an orange and blue jacket and orange pants.

"I take that back," Sasha said quietly, then she spoke to the boy, "Look, I already knew that you guys were following me from the start. You could have just kept hiding and confronted me later. If you really want to try and restrain me, meet me in the forest." She turned her back to him and said, "Oh, and one more thing: You're a clone."

The boy, or the boy's clone, was more shocked than angry. "How?!" he shouted out to her as he disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Walking in the direction of the forest, Sasha then sensed someone else with her, but did not say anything. _So the sensei joins in as well, huh?_ She thought as she continued down the path. Once she was in the safety of the forest, she reached into her pack, pulled out a kunai, and threw it at the nearest tree. The kunai exploded and in its place stood a man with spiky gray hair, who was reading a novel called "Make-Out Paradise".

"So, you found me out," he said as he continued to read his book, "Good job at the detection."

Sasha shrugged off the compliment as if it were a fly. Instead, she calmly asked him, "Just so I know whom I fight later, who are you?"

The man looked up from his book, revealing a masked face, and replied, "I'm Kakashi Hatake, and I'm just another ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village. No one special." Sasha wasn't convinced when she heard this.

"Don't mess around with me," she said, "You're not just another ordinary ninja, you're different, and you are one of the elite-level ninja. You're a Jounin." Kakashi seemed surprised.

"How do you know that I'm a Jounin and not a Chuunin instead?" He asked her questioningly.

She shrugged casually and responded, "It's simple. You're a Jounin because you have the vest of a high-ranking ninja, and that boy called you 'sensei'. One more thing, you transformed into a kunai inside my pack. Most weapon transformations often have defects, and yours was perfect. And I've heard about you, Copy Ninja Kakashi."

"Interesting," Kakashi said, "And if I may ask, what's your name?"

"Sasha Tsumane of the Hidden Village of Sand. But enough talk, let's fight!"

And without warning, Sasha leapt at Kakashi and threw a senbon, a long needle like the kind used for acupuncture, at him. He simply leapt out of the way and landed behind her, holding a kunai to her throat. Instead of feeling frightened, Sasha felt pleased. This was going to become an interesting fight.

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It was Naruto who decided to do the distraction. Using two of his Shadow Clones, he transformed one into Kakashi himself and began an argument right outside the Ichiraku ramen shop. The suspect came out when she heard the argument; Kakashi was mildly surprised to discover that it was a girl; and began walking through the village. Naruto's third Shadow Clone then confronted the ninja, but did not manage to do anything to her. Even the few seconds Naruto gave him were enough to transform into a kunai and sneak into her pack. But surprisingly enough, the girl simply reached and pulled him out as though he were the only kunai in her pack.

Once he revealed himself, he took a good look at whom the visitor was. She wore a large sand-colored jacket over a black suit with fishnet, and bandages on the lower part of her legs. A red headband that was visible around her neck bore the Hidden Sand Village symbol. Black cloth, with the kanji "Strength", was tied across the back of her head that kept long dark red bangs from falling into her face. It was the eyes that made Kakashi remember; blue ovals with dark circles surrounding them. With her overall appearance, she looked just like Gaara of the Desert.

All of a sudden, the girl threw a senbon at him with such speed it appeared as if she didn't move at all. Her speed was incredible, so incredible that it easily surpassed his own; he barely managed to dodge it as it came his way and leapt right behind her holding a kunai to her throat.

"Don't even move," Kakashi said seriously as he pressed the blade very close to her jugular, "It's over. There's no use in fighting." He expected the girl to shake in fear and say that she gave up, but she didn't. Instead, she smiled and attempted to push him away. Kakashi then felt something poke him through his ninja vest; looking down, he realized that it was a senbon that appeared to be hidden in the sleeve of her jacket.

The girl, Sasha Tsumane, then said, "Let's see how long you can survive in a battle with me." She pushed Kakashi's arm away and leapt into a tree for safety. She then formed hand seals so fast that they were barely visible to the human eye. The only ones Kakashi could identify were the signs of the Tiger and the Horse.

"Take this!" Sasha said triumphantly, "Fire Style: Firewave Jutsu!" As she blew, a jet of fire emitted from her mouth and headed straight for Kakashi. He quickly lifted his headband and formed several hand seals, then he shouted, "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" as a geyser of water in the shape of a dragon appeared and put out the fireball. Kakashi was thankful that he met so many Water ninja in the past; otherwise he would have been reduced to ashes by now.

Sasha seemed impressed with him. "Hmm, not bad. But try a defense against this." She began to spin around in a circle so fast that she formed a sort of tornado that blew strong winds. Suddenly, senbon needles flew out of the winds towards him at light speed. He didn't even have time to form hand seals; Kakashi threw his arms up to protect himself just a several needles embedded themselves deep into his body. Pulling one of them loose, he noticed that they were not like the regular, straight senbon that ninja usually used. These needles were almost three times as short and were curved about three-quarters on one end.

Kakashi then saw something that quickly disappeared on the end of the senbon. Looking closely, he realized that it was thread that was tied to the ends of each of the senbon in his body. Sand ninja Sasha then came into view with the ends of the thread tied to each of her fingers.

She wore a kind smile on her face. "Well, well, it looks like you won't live to tell that you fought a Sand ninja," she said softly, "Oh well. You did put up a good fight though. I think I'll show you a special technique before you die."

" 'A special technique before I die'?" Kakashi echoed. "What kind of technique is it?"

Sasha kept smiling. As she gently pulled on one of the strings, Kakashi suddenly felt an extreme pain in his chest where the thread was connected to the senbon. She gave a few more gentle tugs on the other strings and he felt pain in his left leg, arm, and heart as well.

Through watering eyes, Kakashi glanced up into Sasha's face, horrified. Her smile had changed to an insane grin. Her voice was still soft when she spoke, but her eyes did not reveal any gentleness to what she was going to do to him. "Wind Style: Senbon Cyclone Embedment. This jutsu is a very special one, Kakashi. This is going to be the last jutsu that you will ever feel. You see where my senbons are embedded in you body? I'm going to pull every one of them out and anything that they are attached to. It'll be quick, but it most certainly won't be painless."

Just as she was about to pull at one of the shortest threads, a small figure leapt in between her and Kakashi. He threw several kunai at her and managed to back her off. He was panting in an angry sort of way, taking deep breaths and letting them out loudly.

"Hey you, if you ever lay a finger on my sensei, I'll kill you!" The figure lifted his face to reveal a very angry Naruto glaring straight at the Sand ninja. Kakashi was stunned.

"Naruto, what are you doing here?" Kakashi told him, "This is not a fight that should involve a Genin. It's too dangerous."

Naruto looked at Kakashi with piercing red eyes, and responded, "I know that it's dangerous, Kakashi-sensei, it's even too much for you." He looked back at the girl and said, "If she's able to do this to you, then she's probably even more powerful than any of the jounin in our village. Either way, I'm not going to let her harm you." And with that, Naruto raced at the girl with a kunai in each hand.

Kakashi was touched that his pupil did not want him to die at the hands of this lousy Sand ninja. Just before Naruto charged the girl, Kakashi whispered, "Naruto, be careful," and closed his eyes to the welcoming darkness.

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**With Kakashi out of the battle, Naruto must try to take down the Sand shinobi alone. But will his power be enough? Read it when it comes...'Raging Battle: Naruto v.s. Sasha'. All reviews are welcome!

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Teaser: _As Naruto stood stunned at what just happened, Sasha leapt and landed behind him, with such speed that none could have heard anything at all, and without hesitating knocked him unconcious. As he fell out of the tree, she caught him and gently set him down on the ground, taking care not to cause any more pain to him._

_"You fought bravely, and you are by far the only Genin ever to last his long against me," Sasha said quietly, "I will let you live to fight another day, as your reward."_

_"But I will not let you live to fight another day," a voice whispered from behind her..._


	4. Raging Battle: Naruto vs Sasha

**Disclaimer: Orochimaru must DIE...if only I could own Naruto it would happen...**

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In the last chapter: Kakashi and Naruto soon located the newcomer ninja, both surprised to discover that it was a girl. While confronting her, she displayed her skills by telling apart the shadow clone from the real Naruto and that Kakashi was a kunai in her pack the whole time. Engaging her in combat, Kakashi soon fell victim to the deadly technique "Senbon Cyclone Embedment" and would have met a painful end if Naruto had not chosen to show up at the last minute. Now with Kakashi out of the battle, can Naruto actually hold out on his own against this powerful foe? Let's just hope that Sasha does not show him deadlier moves...

**_Mysterious Voice _**- refers to when a mysterious voice speaks to Sasha

**Inner Sakura **- refers to when Inner Sakura is speaking

_Thoughts/Flashbacks _- refers to when the character is thinking or having flashbacks

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Naruto stood between Kakashi and the female Sand ninja, wanting to slam his fists into every part of her for harming his sensei. Without even thinking, he pulled out two of his kunai and ran towards her. She didn't even move when he collided with her, but suddenly transformed into a section of a log. Naruto was stunned at this; he had not seen her make any hand seals when he charged at her, so why was the Body Replacement Technique active?

A stinging pain in Naruto's back made him turn around so fast that he found himself caught in a web of thread. Ahead of him was the Sand ninja looking bored at the top of a tree, twirling a very long senbon needle in her hand.

"You know something, kid? You really need to think before you act, otherwise you wouldn't be in this mess right now," she said as she kept twirling the needle around.

Naruto shouted, "Shut up! I'm still going to beat you up, right after I get out of here! I'm gonna make you pay for what you did to Kakashi-sensei!"

"Oh, like I've never heard that before," the girl said in a bored voice as she stared up at the clouds, "As you may have realized, I'm strong. I'm stronger than any ninja to ever live, than any Jounin in any of the five countries," she looked at him seriously, "So just give up and you can live to fight another day."

Naruto fumed and raged, "There's no way that I'm giving up! My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm going to become Hokage one day!"

"Yeah, yeah, but if you're going to become Hokage, you have to beat the strongest ninja to ever live…me."

Naruto smirked. "Okay then, I'll prove it to you now!" He raised his hands and formed a hand seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

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Sasha was very surprised when the boy, Naruto Uzumaki, showed up just when she was about to finish off the sensei. He was the same boy who's clone she had spoken with earlier, but he was different this time, she could feel it. There was a red glow to where the blue eyes once were, and dark whisker marks were across his cheeks. But there was also a difference in his power.

_What is this chakra?_ She thought, _it's so strong and powerful. It's almost as high as my own chakra level! And it's still growing! What is this kid?_

He suddenly came towards her with a kunai in either hand and tackled her. Sasha did not form hand seals for the Body Replacement Technique, instead, she quickly grabbed a log that was next to her and leapt into the nearest tree. There was no need to waste her chakra on a technique as simple as that one, and most certainly not in a fight with a Genin. Knowing what she had to do, Sasha then threw senbon needles with thread attached in different directions, forming a web-like prison around Naruto. He didn't seem to notice at all; he seemed to still be wondering how she had managed to do the Body Replacement Technique without any seals. Annoyed, Sasha threw senbon at Naruto's back until he noticed the web cage around him.

He turned and looked up at Sasha, and then he formed a special hand seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he shouted as several copies of him suddenly appeared inside the prison. Now Sasha was very surprised, because the Shadow Clone Technique was not something that an ordinary Genin could do. In fact, it was something that Genin should not have even been able to attempt, it was something that only high-ranking ninja could do; the Shadow Clone Technique enabled ninja to create many clones of themselves instead of just copies.

Naruto's clones then pulled out kunai and began to slice at the thread, taking long swipes that cut about five strings each. Just when each of the clones took their seventh swipe, they vanished in a puff of smoke. Sasha was puzzled; the clones had not been hit at all, so why had they vanished? As if answering her question, Naruto suddenly appeared in front of her within a puff of smoke.

"Take this!" He shouted as he landed a punch right on her face. She flew back ten feet before managing to stop herself from crashing into a nearby tree. Sasha rubbed her hand over the spot where Naruto had managed to hit her; he was so strong, and clever too. As it turned out, Sasha discovered, while the clones were busy trying to cut down the web cage, Naruto had already cut himself to freedom and climbed up to where his captor stood. She was too lazy to notice him transform into a branch attached to the tree and slowly crawl closer towards her. _That was pretty clever of him_, Sasha thought, _and I thought that he was a brainless idiot!_

She quickly came out of her trance as Naruto came flying towards her with tons of shuriken in either hand. When he got a clear shot, he launched them towards her and waited to watch the impact; he never got a chance to do anything else. Sasha pulled out the exact amount of senbon as there were flying shuriken and flung them with perfect aim. Every one of the shuriken bounced off of the needles and ricocheted to the trees surrounding them. As Naruto stood stunned at what had just happened, Sasha leapt and landed behind him, with such speed that none could have heard anything at all, and without hesitating knocked him unconscious. As he fell out of the tree, she caught him and gently set him on the ground, taking care not to cause any more pain to him.

"You fought bravely, and you are by far the only Genin ever to last this long against me," Sasha said quietly, "I will let you live to fight another day, as your reward."

"But I will not let _you_ live to fight another day," a voice whispered from behind her. She spun around to find, to her greatest shock, Kakashi standing upright and holding several kunai in one hand, while, with his other hand, pulling out the senbon that were still attached to his body out.

"You shouldn't be standing up, you know," Sasha warned him, "And you definitely shouldn't pull those out so roughly. One wrong pull could end with you ripping your own heart out."

Kakashi did not seem to care about what she just said, and just kept yanking out the needles. "I don't care," he said glaring at her, "I'll do whatever it takes to protect the Hidden Leaf Village from destruction, even if it means giving up my life. I am not going to let you destroy my village!"

Sasha said quickly, "Wait hold on! I'm not here to destroy your village. I came here while traveling from the Sand Village, so relax."

But Kakashi was not convinced and threw the kunai at her. She sighed and formed the hand seals for a barrier, but was not able to complete the jutsu; a burning pain suddenly shot up her right arm and paralyzed it, preventing her from forming any more hand seals.

_No, not now_, Sasha thought angrily as she cursed her paralyzed arm. She could live with pain while forming seals, but not paralysis. The kunai zoomed towards her and embedded themselves into her right arm, legs, and shoulder. Kakashi looked at her triumphantly, but then suddenly fell to the earth unconscious. Sasha knew why; when she tried to push him away at the beginning of the fight, she stuck a senbon needle into him that was spiked with a strong poison. The poison took a while to take effect, but once it did, it placed its host in a coma that lasted three days, giving the enemy time to recover and return to finish their prey off. When the time limit was up, the host would immediately wake up.

Turning her back on both of the ninja, Sasha quickly yanked out the kunai, wincing at the pain as the blades came loose, but said nothing more. Just when she prepared herself to leap into the shelter of the trees, her conscience nudged her and told her to not just leave the ninja the way they were. Her conscience having won, Sasha turned back and gently pulled out the needles in Kakashi's body, then she set him next to Naruto. Having done her task, she leapt into the trees and through the forest. By the time other ninja had arrived, she was long gone.

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**Naruto and Kakashi are both down, and who's next? The village? The Hokage? Read it when it comes...'Realization'. I must have reviews!

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Teaser: _"Kotetsu, look at this!" Izumo said. Kotetsu clutched at his heart that was beating furiously; oh how he would get his friend back for scaring him like that! He turned towards Izumo and asked, "What is it, now? A trap?"_

_Izumo shook his head and formed a hand seal. "Dispell!" he said, and the grass right next to them grew blurry and then sharpened; right there next to Naruto, lay a motionless body._

_"Kakashi! So this is what happened to him!" Kotetsu said in shock, "But what happened to Naruto as well? Did they fight or something?"_

_His friend shook his head. "No. Naruto is Kakashi's student, and he would never hurt him unless it was for training in combat; besides, neither of them uses senbon. No, Kotetsu, the same enemy harmed these two. But who?"_

_"Who else is there, Izumo?" Kotetsu asked softly, "Who would want to harm their own people, and who could have the power to harm a Jounin as skilled as Kakashi?"_

_Both of the Chunin looked at each other and said in unison, "The Sand Ninja. She has drawn first blood, now it is time for us to draw hers!"_


	5. Realization

**Disclaimer: I want to own Naruto, but the true owner will not allow me to destroy Orochimaru...**

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In the last chapter: While fighting him evenly, Sasha soon realizes that Naruto is no ordinary shinobi and quickly takes him out, only to be challenged once again by Kakashi. A paralysis soon strikes that does not allow Sasha the final attack to end Kakashi's life, although her poison grants her three days to recover (it's the sleeping poison). Sasha decides to take mercy on them both and slinks away from her, now unconcious, two opponents, hoping to at least avoid capture and explanation. While she hides, Tsunade is now being informed by two chunin of her arrival...

**_Mysterious Voice _**- refers to when a mysterious voice speaks to Sasha

**Inner Sakura **- refers to when Inner Sakura is speaking

_Thoughts/Flashbacks_ - refers to when the character is thinking or having flashbacks

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Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage, sat alone in her office looking at some papers that were just given to her earlier that morning; looking at the papers that were left to look over, she realized that she would probably have to spend the whole afternoon reading them as well. She listened intently towards the door, making sure that she was really alone before anyone came to disturb her. Very quietly, she opened a hidden drawer on the inside of her desk and pulled out a large bottle of sake. She uncorked the bottle, filled herself a glass, and resumed reading a very long list of requested missions. Suddenly, the door flew open as Shizune, her assistant and friend, came racing inside with two ninja. She realized that they were the two chunin that patrolled the East Gate.

"Tsunade-sama, sorry to disturb you, but it's important!" Shizune said urgently as the two shinobi stood at attention. Tsunade recognized them as Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane.

"What is it? I'm kind of busy right now," Tsunade said grumpily, wondering whether now she would have even more work to do.

Izumo stepped forward and bowed. "Lord Hokage, it is about this morning. We were monitoring the gate as usual, taking care to write down the information of anyone not from the Leaf Village who entered, when a new visitor approached the gates."

Kotetsu spoke up, "We stopped her and asked for her information before she could enter the village. She gave it to us willingly, except for one small piece of information." He handed the files that were written just that morning to her and stepped back next to his friend.

Tsunade looked over the files and was surprised to see the ninja rank section a complete blank. She looked up at them and asked, "What is her rank? Did you forget to ask her?"

"Lord Hokage," Kotetsu answered, "That was the only part she did not wish to answer to. We told her that it was required, but she refused."

"And you just let her into the village without the necessary information?" Tsunade said dangerously, "You let a ninja from the Hidden Village of Sand walk through the Leaf Village's gates without restraining her? You've probably just let a hazard walk freely through the village! Find her and bring her here!" And with that, Izumo and Kotetsu quickly left before the Hokage could destroy anything.

Tsunade was outraged! Those two idiots had let a foreign, unknown ninja into the village! She was so angry that she turned around and punched the window behind her, not only shattering the glass but shaking the whole building as well. Shizune was scared now; once Tsunade became angry, it was very risky trying to stop her from going on a rampage.

_They had better find her soon,_ Shizune thought rapidly, _or Tsunade-sama will destroy her whole office before they get back!!_

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Kotetsu and Izumo raced throughout the village, alerting every Jounin in sight about the foreign ninja. Each of them had raced back to their homes to stock up on their kunai and shuriken, just in case the ninja attacked them, and joined them on the search. They managed to alert all of the Jounin except one; everywhere they looked, they just could not seem to find Kakashi Hatake.

"Don't worry about him," Izumo assured his friend, "He'll find out sooner or later. Kakashi is one who never misses out on an important mission, no matter how late he is."

Kotetsu replied, "You're right, we'll probably see him later with the Sand ninja in tow." They both laughed at the thought and continued on their way throughout the village.

Kotetsu suddenly pointed and said, "Hey, what's that in the forest over there?" Izumo turned his head and looked to where he was pointing; in the distance, he could barely make out an orange figure. "Let's check it out."

They cautiously leapt through the forest trees, taking care not to spring any traps, if there were any. Kotetsu and Izumo took a big leap and landed in a clearing with many scattered needles, were the orange figure lay unconscious. Kotetsu immediately recognized the figure.

"It's Naruto!" He cried out in surprise, "But what is he doing here alone like this?" As he knelt down to check his pulse, he heard a shout come from right next to him and he jumped.

"Kotetsu, look at this!" Izumo said. Kotetsu clutched at his heart that was beating furiously; oh how he would get his friend back for scaring him like that! He turned towards Izumo and asked, "What is it, now? A trap?"

Izumo shook his head and formed a hand seal. "Dispell!" he said, and the grass right next to them grew blurry and then sharpened; right there next to Naruto, lay a motionless body.

"Kakashi! So this is what happened to him!" Kotetsu said in shock, "But what happened to Naruto as well? Did they fight or something?"

His friend shook his head. "No. Naruto is Kakashi's student, and he would never hurt him unless it was for training in combat; besides, neither of them uses senbon. No, Kotetsu, the same enemy harmed these two. But who?"

"Who else is there, Izumo?" Kotetsu said softly, "Who would want to harm their own people, and who could have the power to harm a Jounin as skilled as Kakashi?"

Both of the chunin looked at each other and said in union, "The Sand ninja. She has drawn first blood, now it is time for us to draw hers!"

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**Tsunade is angry, but she is not alone. Kotetsu and Izumo want to spill the Sand shinobi's blood as well as the ANBU do. But where is Sasha and will she be found? Read it when it comes...'Found: Sasha Meets InoShikaCho!'. I live on reviews, so right now I am dying!

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Teaser: _"Well, well, it looks like we found the missing nin without breaking a sweat," Shikamaru said in a lazy voice, "And guess what, Ino? It's a girl."_

_Ino stepped forward as Sasha took her in. She wore a black outfit with bandages that came down to her knees. Her hair was also in a high ponytail and came down to her shoulders._

_"Before we take her to the Hokage," Ino said with a smile, "Let's teach her a lesson about messing with the ninja of the Leaf Village!"_


	6. Found: Sasha meets InoShikaCho!

**Disclaimer: I ALMOST won in a gamble for Naruto...that means I almost won the chance to kill off Orochimaru...**

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In the last chapter: Kotetsu and Izumo found Naruto and, shockingly, Kakashi unconcious in the woods after Sasha fled the scene. Now Tsunade has assigned a three-man squad to search for her. Sasha hides in a nearby cave and hopes not to be found. Unfortunately for her, that's exactly what happens...

**_Mysterious Voice _**- refers to when a mysterious voice speaks to Sasha

**Inner Sakura **- refers to when Inner Sakura is speaking

_Thoughts/Flashbacks _- refers to when the character is thinking or having flashbacks

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Sasha winced as the pain in her arm increased as she rubbed medical ointment over it. It was no use, and she knew it; the pain was being caused internally, not from the gashes caused by the kunai. But at least the ointment would help with the bleeding. As soon as her arm had a thin coating of ointment around it, Sasha quickly re-bandaged it with fresh bandages. Sitting there in a cave she had found nearby, she cursed her throbbing arm with hate. This always happened when she used her right arm in too many techniques that required chakra, it was not something that she had recently developed; she had had it all her life. She suddenly sat up alert when she heard voices nearby.

"Man what a drag, we're assigned an A-rank mission just to find one person? This sucks." She heard the first voice say. Another two other voices joined the first voice. "Don't be such a whiner, Shikamaru, the person we need to find isn't just anyone. I heard that it was a missing nin who is capable of harming a Jounin. Didn't you hear about what happened to Team Seven's sensei, Kakashi Hatake?"

The first voice, Shikamaru, said, "What happened to him?" The third voice then said, "He was found by the two chunin that patrol the East Gate right next to Naruto. They were found in a clearing filled with senbon, both were unconscious. I don't like the sound of that."

Sasha quietly poked her head out of the cave and saw three genin, skinny and overweight, standing ten feet away from her. The first one with the ninja vest seemed to be the one named Shikamaru, and by the looks of it, he was bored.

"Quit complaining, Chouji," the third ninja, a girl, said to the overweight boy, "It's our first A-rank mission ever, and I want to prove to Sakura that I'm better by bashing that missing nin!"

Shikamaru looked up towards the clouds with a lazy gaze and responded, "Calm down, Ino. That's the last thing we want to do." Ino just stared at him and asked why. Shikamaru sighed. "From the results, the missing nin is possibly capable of killing a Jounin. If he's able to do just that, then maybe none of the Jounin in the village, let alone Chuunin or Genin, can stand up to him."

"If he is capable of killing elite ninja, then he himself might possibly be an elite ninja as well, right Shikamaru?" Chouji asked his companion.

He closed his eyes and sighed. "You got that right, Chouji. Neither a Genin nor a Chuunin could have the skill to do that."

As Sasha attempted to sneak back into the cave, she suddenly realized that she couldn't move an inch. Looking behind her, she saw a long dark path that zigzagged around the rocks and appeared to be attached to Shikamaru's feet. He suddenly began to walk towards the cave, and as he walked, she walked towards the entrance. She couldn't control herself; it was as if her feet were moving by themselves. He then stopped at the entrance of the cave and spotted her immediately.

"Well, well, it looks like we found the missing nin without breaking a sweat," Shikamaru said in a lazy voice, "And guess what, Ino? It's a girl."

Ino stepped forward as Sasha took her in. She wore a black outfit with bandages that came down to her knees. Her hair was in a high ponytail and came down to her shoulders.

"Before we take her to the Hokage," Ino began with a smile, "Let's teach her a lesson about messing with the ninja of the Leaf Village!"

But Shikamaru shook his head and said, "No. Our orders were to take her directly to the Hokage, not to beat her to a pulp and _then_ take her to the Hokage."

Ino complained, "Come on Shikamaru, let me get at least one hit! We gotta give her something to remember." Shikamaru shook his head again, and Ino just sulked and said nothing more. Shikamaru then turned towards Sasha.

"Who are you, and what are you doing in the Hidden Leaf Village?" He asked her, "Why are you here?"

Sasha looked straight at him and said, "Simple. I'm on vacation and decided to travel to all five countries."

"That's a lie. You came here on a mission, didn't you?" He questioned her harshly, "And you're no ordinary Genin either are you?" At that last question, Sasha gave him a look of pure anger.

"Don't _ever_, _ever_, call me a Genin. I'm not that low in skills," she said dangerously, "I'm not even as low as a Chunin, especially one like you!"

Shikamaru glared at her and said, "Take that back."

"Never in life, never in death," she said smirking.

Chouji then stepped between them and aimed a blow at her face. Not only did it hurt, but Shikamaru winced as well. Even though he was not hit, he still rubbed the exact spot where she felt a swelling pain. Sasha was both amazed and confused. He had not been hit at all, and yet he reacted in the way where you would treat the wound received. She would have to ask him about his special jutsu later, that is, if she ever managed to survive the Hokage's wrath first.

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**Now that she is found, Sasha faces two difficult possibilities: The Hokage will be kind and allow her to live, or the Hokage will be cruel and sentence her to death. Whichever one it is, Sasha is ready to face it...unless it means a painful death by the hand of Kakashi when he wakes up. What will the Hokage's decision be? Read it when it comes...'The Outcome'. I am starving for reviews!

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Sorry, there won't be a teaser for the next chapter since it's so short. But read it anyway! 


	7. The Outcome

**Disclaimer: You will die Orochimaru! Hahahahah! Oh, wait...I forgot that I don't own Naruto.**

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In the fourth chapter: Naruto and Kakashi were engaged in a fierce battle between Sasha Tsumane, a deadly Sand shinobi with extrordinary power, and both failed to capture her. As Naruto finally awakens, he becomes concerned for his sensei. As it turns out, Kakashi had been damaged even more than he was...

**_Mysterious Voice _**- refers to when a mysterious voice speaks to Sasha

**Inner Sakura **- refers to when Inner Sakura is speaking

_Thoughts/Flashbacks _- refers to when the character is thinking or having flashbacks

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He felt nothing at first, but after a while he began to feel a searing pain all around his body. His hands felt soft cloth and rough edges, and he could hear many voices speaking as well. He was in a bed in the Leaf Village hospital. With a groan, Naruto managed to pull himself into a sitting position and opened his eyes. There, sitting down and reading one of her enormous books, was Sakura Haruno. She looked up from her book to find Naruto awake.

"Naruto! It's about time you've woken up," she said gratefully, "The two ninja that brought you here told me that they found you unconscious in the forest."

**Man, it's about time you woke up! I was just thinking about bashing your skull to give you a wakeup call! **Inner Sakura pouted at the last thought.

Naruto then remembered something important. He turned towards his teammate with a serious and urgent look on his face.

"Sakura, where's Kakashi-sensei?" he asked her quickly and began to get out of his bed. She moved over and pushed him back onto the bed, forcing him to lie down.

"Calm down already!" She said sternly, "Tsunade-sama said that you really need to rest, especially after that fight with the Sand ninja."

Naruto was surprised. "How did you know about the fight?" Sakura shrugged and said, "Tsunade-sama explained to me what the ninja told her. You were really lucky that the missing-nin didn't kill you when she had the chance."

That put Naruto into deep thought; the Sand shinobi had the chance to kill him, but why didn't she? What had prevented her from killing them? _She isn't like the other Sand ninja we've met, the one's from the Chuunin Exam; she's completely different._

He shook off his thoughts and said, "You didn't answer my question. Where is Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura's stern face softened into a look that Naruto didn't like the sight of, a troubled look. He asked her the question again, only this time demanding an answer.

"He's—um, he's in the Critical Care unit on the second…" she began, but he didn't let her finish. Stopping only to pull on his shoes, he raced out the door and up the stairs of the hospital without stopping, startling many doctors, nurses, and patients. He finally came to stop in front of a set of double-doors with a sign above that read "Critital Care". _If Kakashi-sensei is in critical condition_, Naruto thought uneasily, _that Sand shinobi must have really messed him up._

As he barged through the doors two people in animal masks stopped him. The more he struggled to break free, the tighter they held him.

"Hold on a moment," one of them said, "Where do you think you are going? This is where the patients in critical condition are."

"You can't come in here," the other said. Naruto glared at them and shouted, "Let me go! I need to see Kakashi-sensei! I need to!"

The two people in animal masks looked at each other for a moment, and then looked down at Naruto.

"You can't go in to see Kakashi Hatake, at this moment."

"Why not?!" Naruto shouted in anger and frustration. He needed to know if his sensei was all right, after all he passed out from the pain during the fight. "Why can't I go see Kakashi-sensei?!"

"Because," one of the masked people hesitated, "Because he's in a very deep coma. He hasn't woken up for two days." Naruto felt his heart stop. His sensei was in a coma? He put his head down in shame; he had fought hard to protect his sensei from the Sand ninja, and yet still she had managed to critically injure him. He curled his hands into fists and cursed the foreign ninja. No matter what good she did, he would never forgive her. One of the people in the animal masks placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, and then walked out of the hospital without another word.

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**Is Kakashi out for good? How will Naruto react when he meets Sasha again? Though that chapter won't come for a while, please be patient. Here's a better question: What will Tsunade do when Sasha is brought to her? Read it when it comes (the next chapter I mean)...'One Condition'. People, I will lose my house if I don't get reviews! (JKXD)

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Teaser: _"You thought you could escape from out village unharmed," Tsunade said as she landed two more punches, "You should have looked deeper into the files of the Hidden Leaf Village. We are one of the five most powerful villages with some of the best shinobi, so you could have never been able to complete your mission and return to the wind country alive."_

_Shizune watched from behind the desk, feeling sick with disgust. She had never seen Tsunade do this to any shinobi, let alone a mere child..._


	8. One Condition

**Disclaimer: I will force the owner of Naruto to kill Orochimaru or I will kill him...**

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In the sixth chapter: Sasha was successfully captured by InoShikaCho and is taken to by tried by the Hokage. Sasha hopes that the Hokage is understanding and soon understands that she is wrong. But she is actually right in a way...

**_Mysterious Voice _**- refers to when a mysterious voice speaks to Sasha

**Inner Sakura **- refers to when Inner Sakura is speaking

_Thoughts/Flashback _- refers to when the character is thinking or having flashbacks.

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Tsunade angrily glared at the window in the direction of the hospital. Those two idiots had made one careless mistake, and now look where it had landed them. The greatest Jounin from the village, Kakashi Hatake, was now being hospitalized for severe injuries and was in a very deep coma. Judging from the condition he was found in, he probably would never wake up. Tsunade was so angry with Kotetsu and Izumo's stupidity that she turned around and landed another punch on the Sand ninja's face with relief. She gritted her teeth as she took the blow, but said absolutely nothing.

"You thought you could escape from our village unharmed," Tsunade said as she landed two more punches, "You should have looked deeper into the files of the Leaf Village. We are one of the five most powerful villages with some of the best shinobi, so you could have never been able to complete your mission and return to the Wind Country alive."

Shizune watched from behind the desk, feeling sick with disgust. She had never seen Tsunade do this to any shinobi, let alone a mere child. She cringed as her sensei landed yet another hit on the ninja. It hurt her even more to watch the child spit out blood and glare at the Hokage without any fear. There were rather nasty looking bruises on her face and torso where she had taken the hits without word. _Whoever this child is_, Shizune thought, _she must be insane to even look Tsunade-sama without any fear. _When Tsunade prepared herself for yet another hit as the girl collapsed, Shizune could stand it no longer.

"Tsunade-sama, please stop! Can you not see that she cannot take any more? If you hit her any more she will die!" Tsunade kept looking at the young ninja and prepared her fists once more, massaging them for the final blow, the Punch of Death she called it. Shizune, without thinking, then leapt in front of the child with her arms outstretched.

"I will not let you hurt her any more, Tsunade-sama!" she said bravely. She did not move a muscle when the other ninjas gasped, nor did she move when her sensei loomed over her with a piercing glare.

"Why do you wish to do this, Shizune?" She asked softly as she lowered her fists. "She has harmed a Jounin from our village without reason, and a Genin as well. And yet you still want to let her live?"

Before Shizune could answer, the girl whispered, "Just let her kill me, you'll be doing me a favor anyway." She shook as she struggled to stand, and was immediately pushed back down by the other ninja present. She did not do anything to stop them; she seemed to not care about her life anymore. As Tsunade towered over her, Shizune quickly spoke.

"Tsunade-sama, please don't do it. Please do not kill her," she said as tears came into her eyes. "Just give her a chance to change herself. Please, Tsunade-sama!" She threw herself onto the ground and bowed low.

Tsunade could hear her assistant crying softly. _Is she really that concerned about the life of this one person? I can't allow it, but Shizune will be so heart broken if I do kill her. I really don't want to harm this kid anymore. Between saving her life and allowing the ANBU black ops to murder her in public…_

"You can stay alive on one condition," she said with her back turned to the sand ninja, who looked up in surprise, as did the ANBU behind her. "You will need to stay within the boundaries of the Hidden Leaf Village until we can confirm your ninja existence in your village."

The child looked positively clueless. "Are—are you telling me the truth? I have to stay in this place until you can confirm me? I already told you that I'm a ninja from the Hidden Sand!"

One of the ANBU lifted her chin and said quietly, "We need to determine that for ourselves. We can't trust foreign ninja these days, and you are no exception. If you are telling us the truth, then you may return to your village safely."

She looked slightly happy about this, but something was still troubling her, they could tell. "What if I am lying to you about my occupation as a ninja?" She asked shakily.

"We will find that out for ourselves, but if we find any trace of a lie, we will gladly take your life as settlement for the injuries of Kakashi Hatake and Naruto Uzumaki." A female ANBU member said with determination.

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As she was escorted outside of the Hokage building, Sasha was in deep thought. She had managed to survive the near-death punches of Fifth Hokage Tsunade, but at the cost of her own body. And if that wasn't bad enough, now she had to stay in this stupid village until they could confirm her existence as one of the Hidden Sand shinobi, and they still didn't believe her when she told them the truth! Sasha was so angry at the moment that she didn't look up in time to notice that she had bumped into a person right in front of her.

He was rather flustered when he bumped into her and tried over and over again to apologize. Sasha looked at him carefully, carving his image into her mind.

He was a boy who looked just a little bit younger than her, probably no more than twelve or thirteen at the most. He wore a green spandex suit with orange leg warmers from the knees down, blue shinobi sandals, a red headband around his waist, and bandages around his hands. His features were fair, to her, a bowl-shaped haircut, large round eyes, and rather surprising eyebrows. Sasha had seen many kinds of eyebrows on all of the people in her village, but his were completely new to her; they were THICK!

"I am sorry to have bumped into you," he said bowing low, which took her by surprise. This boy was very respectful even to strangers!

"Hey, Lee, come on! Let's go train already!" A boy with milky white, pupil-less, eyes called to him. The boy named Lee then frowned, and took off after his companion.

Sasha stopped him. "Wait! What's your name?" She called after him. The boy stopped and turned around to face her. He then gave her the thumbs-up sign and smiled a smile that made his teeth gleam.

She heard him call out to her, "In case we meet again, my name is Rock Lee!" and then he ran off without another word.

"Rock Lee…" she whispered to herself. She was suddenly pulled away from her thoughts when a rough had pushed her on. They, Sasha and the two ANBU, walked for about a whole ten minutes until they took a sharp turn into the forest; there, they continued on towards the unknown. After a while, they came to a stop near the entrance of a cave. She looked up at the two elite.

"What are we doing here?" she asked, "Am I going to be living in a cave while waiting for my spectacular death-day/living ceremony to be prepared?" One of the ANBU chuckled at her comment and shook his head.

"No, not exactly a cave," the nearest one said sternly, "This cave is actually a genjutsu so powerful that only ones with strong chakra are able to see through it. Through here is the place you will stay until the verdict is discovered. Stay safe in the meantime, because some ANBU will sometimes come after you for revenge." With that, they turned their backs on her and left without a trace.

As soon as they were gone, Sasha raced through the cave without even taking a light with her. It was very dark, almost like pitch-black coal was in the air. She tripped five times and grazed her neck on what felt like a stalagmite, but continued onwards. Sasha soon became bored and hummed a song that was somehow strangely familiar, but couldn't quite place it.

Just about every random thought that popped into her head seemed vaguely familiar, but never seemed to fit in with her surroundings. There was one in particular that always came into her thoughts, the one with a tall man with long auburn hair in a long braid and a ninja vest, and two other ninja who looked like Genin. Then a small girl in a baggy training uniform, with knee length pants and bandages on her arms, would appear and laugh happily with the others. She was the one who was most mysterious to Sasha, because she actually _did_ remember whom the girl was but chose to forget.

She finally saw a light at the end of the cave and gasped at what she saw. She was in a field of flowers that spread for miles around, with a peaceful waterfall close by. Many trees surrounded the area, and were as thick and tall as the village gates themselves.

"Well, Mother Nature certainly has taken over," she chuckled as she rubbed her hand over the tree next to her. It felt tough and sturdy, perfect for making a dojo. Sasha looked up at the sky and sighed; it was getting late, so she would have to build up the dojo tomorrow.

**_Why not make it right now?_** She heard a voice say in her head; it sounded almost demanding. As if in a trance, she got up, pulled out kunai, and began hacking at the tree. It was an impossible task to even think about, cutting a tree, with a width of twenty feet, down with a single kunai. Sighing, Sasha then decided to hack at the _bark_ of the tree instead, as that was as sturdy as the tree itself. She hacked for about an hour until she realized that she would need something to keep the wood together.

**_There's some sap on the inside of this tree. Use it like glue, kid._** **_It's got to be better than striding back into that damn village and asking for nails and a hammer_**, she heard the voice say again.

"Just shut up, already," Sasha muttered as she slipped on her gloves and shoved them into the base of the tree. Sure enough, she was rewarded with tons of tree sap that slid into a chunk of bark that was carved just like a bowl, which brought up another question. Just where was she going to get the needed tools for cooking and eating?

_**Just make them yourself, kid. Back in our village, you were well known for your carvings.**_

"SHUT UP! I don't want to hear it, Maru!" Sasha shouted as she worked on making the newly made posts stand upright. Holding some of the tree sap in her left hand, she rubbed it over the side of the post and attached another post to it. Time went by slowly as she worked, arranging, attaching, and pasting the beams together until finally the dojo was complete. Sasha took a quick look at it; it was okay. There were two holes in the building that were meant to be windows, there was no door; that would have to wait until tomorrow; and it was just a little bit smaller than her old apartment back home.

Sasha shivered a bit, but it was not because of the breeze that had just passed. The Hidden Sand Village had the records of every ninja, new and old, protected by powerful security, and yet she wondered just how the Hokage and the ANBU black ops were going to be able to find her records. The village's Kazekage, or rather now that they did not have one because of Orochimaru's attack, the council, would gladly help in order to piece together the village's shattered trust with the Hidden Leaf Village. But how much would they show them? Would they give them her ninja identification only, or all of her records entirely? Either way, it would definitely prove that she was a shinobi. Sasha lay down on her sleeping bag, deep in thought about her contained records.

_If they get a hold of only my identification, that's fine with me,_ she thought sleepily,_ but if the council decides to let them know who I truly am, I'll kill them with my bare hands. They don't have the right to remind me of my past, let alone give it away in return for a little trust!_

_**I agree with you, kid. They don't have that right, nobody does. If they betray us, I'll gladly kill them for you. But for now, just sleep and dream. Tomorrow is another day, and we're going to have some fun!****

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**_

**Now that Tsunade has made her choice, what will Sasha do in the meantime? How will she live her life in the Leaf Village until her records can be gathered? By the way, who is Maru?? Read it when it comes out...'The Challenge'. Reviews for the poor!

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**Sorry, no teaser for this one. But the next chapter is rather exciting because Sasha meets a new team! 


	9. The Challenge

**Disclaimer: Naruto, you were almost mine...if your true owner hadn't caught me cheating in the card game!**

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In the last chapter: Tsunade made her decision by telling Sasha that if no shinobi records about her were found, then she would die for her crimes. Sasha now carries this dread around only to add to it when she realizes that Kakashi will wake up the next day and that the ANBU will also come after her when she is unprepared. Deciding to live alone until they find her records, Sasha soon had a mental battle with an unknown voice. The voice said that it had a plan for today, but not to forget that Kakashi is also due to wake as well...

**_Mysterious Voice _**- refers to when a mysterious voice speaks to Sasha

**Inner Sakura **- refers to when Inner Sakura is speaking

_Thoughts/Flashbacks _- refers to when the character is thinking or having flashbacks

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A finger twitched, eyelids fluttered open, and he sat up in his bed. He looked around the hospital room, curious about what had happened during his battle with the village's newest enemy. From what he could remember, he had successfully injured her with his kunai before falling unconscious. He could feel his anger and hatred seething deep inside of him, wanting her dead.

_Her._ The sand ninja that went by the name of Sasha Tsumane, the one who probably posed the greatest threat in all of the five nations, the one who desired to destroy the recuperation of the Hidden Leaf Village. He could already feel his hands itching for the handle of a kunai, for the blood of the one who had nearly killed him. But that would have to wait.

He pulled on his freshly laundered clothes, which were now free of blood, and strapped his kunai holster to his leg. He would have to alert the Hokage of her danger, and then he could track her down and deal with her. Once his shinobi headband was put in its proper place, he leapt out of the open hospital window with determination.

After three days, Kakashi Hatake was finally awake, and with him had awoken something else…something that he had not been acquainted with since the days of being an ANBU black op. The lust to _kill…_

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Sasha panted just as she felt sweat trickle down the side of her face. Her right arm was hurting even more than the day before, and that was because she was doing over four hundred eighty one-armed pushups!

"This is your way of having fun?" She said to herself as she tried to make it to the five hundred mark. She could hear the voice chuckling inside her head as she struggled.

**_Why not? Training is always fun, because you get to push yourself past your limits. Personally, I think that you really need to do more laps than pushups since your speed is starting to drop a little._**

"Oh just shut up, will you?" Sasha groaned as she did the next few pushups. "Four hundred eighty-eight…four hundred eighty-nine…four hundred ninety…"

Earlier that morning, she had taken precautions to insure that no one, not even the ANBU or Kakashi (she knew that he would come after her when he woke up that morning), would be able to compare her to her other self. She had dyed her hair a dark brown and had set it into a braid that fell all the way to her waist, this time. She used the transforming jutsu to make herself appear shorter, along with brown eyes instead of her turquoise ones. After figuring that her usual outfit with the trench coat-like jacket would only draw attention, she changed into her training attire. Her training uniform consisted of ankle-length pants, her mesh top underneath a baggy robe that fell to her hips, and her black ninja sandals. Bandages were wrapped around both of her arms for some unknown reason, probably because they cushioned her hands a bit. Sasha's headband had also been changed; a genjutsu now covered only the Sand crest and replaced it with the Leaf crest instead. So if anyone saw her training and asked for her identification, they would only think that she was a lowly Genin training for something. Sasha felt her anger spark.

_Genin._ She despised that word, let alone the real thing. Genin were pathetic excuses for shinobi since they were only beginners, and Chunin were the same. They knew no special techniques that could kill in one silent movement, they could not move so quick that it looked like they were not moving at all, and they most certainly could not tell the difference between right and wrong missions. Would the assassination of a single village be wrong if it would save the lives of the other hidden villages? Would the death of your closest friends be wrong if it could save the village from disaster? Would the murder of your_ family_, with you being the executioner, matter more than the destruction they could bring upon the entire world? The answer was no. Your duties to your village came first if you were a ninja…your life came last.

"Four hundred ninety-six…four hundred ninety-seven…four hundred ninety-eight…" Her arm felt like it was on fire and was about to burst any minute, but she was not going to give up any time soon. She never backed away from a challenge, no matter how dangerous it was. To be a Tsumane meant that you had to complete any assignment that was thrown at you, or risk the dishonor of the family name. "Four hundred ninety-nine…just one more…one more…five hundred!"

Sweat ran down the side of her face. "…But why stop there? I'll do another five hundred. Five hundred one…five hundred two…" she was stopped by a loud cheer that was coming from nearby.

"Amazing! So we are not the only ones who enjoy the Springtime of Youth after all! We may have found another passionate fighter, Lee!"

"Yes, Gai-sensei! Your youthful eyes have helped us to spot a fellow fighter!" another voice chimed in.

Sasha looked up to find the boy from the yesterday looking right at her, the one named Rock Lee. Beside him was another man dressed in the exact same attire; green suit, legwarmers, and all; and that made her wonder if he was this kid's father. The man also wore an unzipped Jounin vest, the same one that Kakashi Hatake wore.

"Well, hello there. Do I know you, by chance?" the man asked with a smile that made his teeth shine the same way as his student's.

Sasha did her best not to laugh at his outfit and replied, "No, I don't think so. You see, I'm a new Genin and was just waiting for my team to…" But the man cut her off.

"Ahh, new youth springs up so fast. I can still remember the days of my youth…" he said dramatically, which made Sasha feel stupid to even stand next to him. "Oh, forgive my rudeness. I am Gai Maito, teacher to Team Gai, rival to Kakashi Hatake, the Green Beast of the Leaf Village!"

Sasha mentally laughed as she pictured Kakashi and this guy sparring. If she were the one who was fighting against him, she thought she would die of laughter of his appearance! Not that Rock Lee looked bad in the outfit; he actually looked good, except for his thick eyebrows that took up almost a sixth of his face.

"If I may ask, what is your name my fellow passionate youthful fighter?"

_And if I may ask, do you really need to add the words 'youth' and 'passion' to everything you say?_ Sasha thought as she quickly tried to make up a name.

**_You got me. Personally, this guy sounds stupider than he looks, and that's a fact. By the way, do you REALLY think that kid looks better in the suit than this idiot? They look exactly the same to me, maybe even in smarts._**

_Shut up, already. Help me pick a name. I can't wander around the village with the same name, and you know Kakashi will wake up today. It'll be easier to find me if we use my original name, so start choosing._

"Uh…my name? My name is, ummmm…" Sasha stalled as she quickly thought of a name.

**_Damn it, kid, use your head! Use that 199+ I.Q. brain of yours! Hell, you can think up strategies for attacks but you can't even think of an alias? What the hell kind of ninja are you?!_**

"My name is Sa…" **_Aiiii!!! You must have an I.Q. of minus 10 if you are thinking of even using your real name! Did you forget what you told me seconds ago, about Kakashi finding us?! You're even stupider than I am at times! Goddamn you, Sasha!!_**

"My name is Saisha," Sasha said quickly while cursing the voice that was giving her a really bad headache.

**_I'M giving you a bad headache?? I think you got your priorities mixed up here. We're supposed to be thinking of a good name, not your original name that has an extra letter in it!!_**

"Saisha, huh?" Gai said thoughtfully, his hand on his chin, "Your name is perfect for you. It brings out your youth and passion for the lifestyle of a shinobi! Right, Lee?"

Lee stood at attention and bowed to her. "Yes, Gai-sensei. Her name is what ignites her flames of passion, but she does not seem to have the strength for fighting."

The last comment he made struck a nerve. So, he thought that she didn't have what it took to fight? Did he think of her as a weakling, maybe a _genin_? She may have been posing as a genin, but in truth, she was far more advanced than anyone thought.

"Hey, if you think I'm weak," she said, her bangs shadowing her eyes, "Then I challenge you in a taijutsu match right now!"

Lee looked clueless while Gai just laughed heartily. Sasha did not know what the big deal was.

**_Maybe they're trying to fool with us. Let me take them down for you. I need a workout anyway._**

Gai finally answered, "Saisha, do you not know? Lee is a Taijutsu Master like I am, and has never been defeated by anyone in taijutsu matches. You do not stand a chance against Lee!"

Sasha was about to protest when two voices interrupted her. They revealed themselves to belong to another boy from the day before and a girl she was sure was Chinese.

"Hey, Gai-sensei!" The boy called to his sensei, "We were supposed to train together today. What happened?" He seemed to be around Lee's age, with long brown hair that ran down his back and was tied in a rubber band. Bandages were wrapped around his right arm and leg. His clothing consisted of a short-sleeved jacket with a high collar, and black shorts. His eyes were the most intriguing: milky-white and pupil less. A black headband was tied around his head.

The girl, on the other hand, wore black ankle-length pants and a sleeveless pink shirt with red on the edges. Her hair was tied up in two buns on either side of her head and a headband with the Leaf Village symbol on it was tied around her head as well.

"Oh, Neji, Tenten!" Gai said while waving merrily. "Come meet someone who has just become a Genin!"

Sasha felt a nerve pop when she heard him call her a Genin. The boy, Neji, turned to her and gave a formal bow while glaring at her with his eyes. The girl called 'Tenten' smiled and shook her hand. "Nice to meet you!"

Gai then said, "Now, Saisha, what was it that you wanted to tell me?"

**_Kid, I have something to tell you!_** The voice said quickly. **_You see those eyes on that kid? Those are the eyes of the great Hyuga Clan, known as the Byakugan! I have a plan, and it concerns him. Tell clown-face something to make the challenge more INTERESTING._ **

_No problem. I was already thinking of this when I first saw him._

"Well, I challenge Lee to a taijutsu match today!" She said while hoping that Neji would take those eyes away from her. They were really starting to creep her out. In fact, her request only made him angry.

"What are you thinking?" He said angrily, "Do you think you can actually defeat Lee in TAIJUTSU?? He is undefeatable! If you are saying that you can beat him, then try your luck against me!"

Tenten joined in the argument. "That's right! If you're going to fight against Lee and Neji, then count me in as well!"

Gai looked positively cheerful. "Well then! How about this, Saisha? You must fight everyone on my Genin team in order to prove your youthful desire! I think this is the way it should be! Now, what time?"

"Tomorrow." Everybody turned to look at Neji. "We cannot start today because we need rest and practice, plus we need to stock up on supplies. This challenge will last three days. Tomorrow she will challenge Tenten; if she wins, then she may move up to the day after tomorrow to challenge me. If she beats me, then she may finally get the chance to fight Lee on Friday."

Sasha had to admit, the kid was a genius. So she would fight the Chinese girl tomorrow, and she still had to find out what her strengths were.

"Oh! Oh! How about we hold a quick preliminary match right now?" Tenten suggested, but Neji shook his head.

"No. We cannot give her time to form a strategy against our strengths. You will get your chance tomorrow, Tenten. Now if anyone cares, I'm leaving." And with that, he took off towards the village.

Everybody else followed suit except for Gai. He simply stayed behind to wish her luck before he took off as well. With them gone, Sasha resumed her morning training.

_I have to get fit. I can't be at my weakest while fighting that girl tomorrow._

_**No problem, kid. I'll cover for you if you get tired. Besides, when was the last time you let me out to have fun? When was the last time I actually held a kunai in my own hands?**_

_No. You're too dangerous to release. Besides, Maru, it won't take long to defeat her. Soon, the power of the Byakugan shall join the others._

_

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_**After meeting Team Gai and establishing a challenge against them, Sasha trains harder than ever. She is determined to show Lee that she excels in taijutsu...but is that true? Even better, will she manage to survive in the battle with Tenten first? Also, will Sasha also be able to avoid Kakashi's rage? Read it when it comes...'Senbon Cyclone Embedment v.s. Rising Twin Dragons'. I am dying for some reviews, people!_

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_**

Teaser:_ 'Damn it,' Sasha thought as she flung another senbon at the girl, who immediately threw another kunai to counter it, 'This girl just won't give up! Every needle I throw ends up being countered; she's got some excellent aim, I'll give her that. But how to hit her directly while pushing away her other attacks...Ah-ha! Got it.'_

_She threw another needle as another kunai hit it. Sasha then got into her weapon throw stance. It was time to use her ultimate weapon technique...Senbon Cyclone Embedment..._


	10. Strange Poison and A Rude Awakening

**Disclaimer: (WARNING: Spoiler alert!) I just found out from my friend that Orochimaru will die in the 20th episode of 'Naruto: Hurricane Chronicles'! So happy that now I can do a normal disclaimer. I pretty much own the whole story, not the characters (except for Sasha Tsumane and her kekkai genkai). I do not own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does. Lucky guy.**

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Author's Note: This chapter is supposed to be a bit of a description of things, plus some humor at the end. The chapter with the Weapon Mistress and Sand shinobi will be after this one, so don't worry about it.

**_Mysterious Voice/ Maru _- **refers to when the mysterious voice, also known as Maru, is speaking

**Inner Sakura - **refers to when Inner Sakura is speaking (but not in this chapter)

_Thoughts/Flashbacks _**- **refers to when the character is thinking or having flashbacks

* * *

Tsunade sighed in content as a breeze blew through her hair. She was sitting on the top of the Hokage Mountain while trying to spot out anything out of the ordinary. She took a sip from her sake bottle and relaxed; she was actually hiding from Shizune and the others in order to avoid working on anything else that they gave her. She closed her eyes and just let the wind calm her down.

"My, you seem to be very relaxed, Lord Hokage." A voice said from her left, which nearly made Tsunade fall off the mountain. Turning her head, she saw that the voice belonged to none other than the Leaf Village's top Jounin, Kakashi Hatake.

"Kakashi! You're awake!" Tsunade said in relief that made Kakashi look at her in confusion.

"Why shouldn't I be? I mean the Sand shinobi and I didn't exactly have a raging battle where our lives were on the line. So why did you say that?"

Tsunade hesitated, "It's just that…well, you've been in a coma for three days. We didn't know if you were going to wake up or not. Judging by your injuries, you must have taken quite a beating." Kakashi's brow furrowed.

"Not really. All she just did was embed needles in my body but didn't have a chance to yank them out until after Naruto came. And yet, despite the minor injuries, I still fell unconscious. Maybe it had to do with the senbon she stuck in me before…" he mused, "It felt like I was in heaven, wanting to sleep forever with no worries."

"Those are the symptoms of a forbidden poison from years back." Tsunade said thoughtfully, "It is called the Heaven Poison. It can attack your mind while you sleep, causing you to dream of your desires and forcing you to never wake up, unless you wish to wake up and face the fact that it was all a dream. Many ninja would use it on themselves in order to escape from reality."

"So it was forbidden because it was used as a way for ninja to get high and forget about reality?"

The Hokage nodded. "Exactly. It could put you to sleep for days, weeks, months, and even years possibly. But I'm more concerned about how she managed to get a hold of something like that. The Heaven Poison was originally made in the Hidden Sand Village by an ancient clan, but the first Kazekage banned it and destroyed the entire clan. The death of an entire clan just for the banning of a poison…"

There was still something bugging Kakashi, something about the clan. If the first Kazekage banned the poison, they should have stopped unless they wished to invoke his wrath. What if he murdered them for something else? What if they had something that was even more dangerous than the Heaven Poison?

"You said that he destroyed the clan even though they stopped making the poison, right?" He began, "Why would that be? Was the clan he destroyed, by any chance, loyal to him?"

Tsunade said, "I read this in a book once, so I do not really know. Although the book didn't say anything about their loyalty, I believe that they trusted the Kazekage with their lives. There was also said to be something very dangerous about the clan's kekkai genkai, that it was a danger to the Sand Village itself. The book didn't tell me anything else because a page was missing, and that must have been the one with the details of the kekkai genkai. I wish I could tell you more." Kakashi sighed and scratched the back of his head. "What are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to track her down, ask her a few questions, then get rid of her."

"WHAT?! You can't just do that to a child!"

Kakashi looked back at her. "She's no child if she has the skills it takes to kill a Jounin. Besides, I'm just going to settle a score," he said in a toneless voice.

Tsunade said, "Either way, you can't kill her…at least not yet. When Shikamaru and his team found her yesterday, we decided to strike a bargain. She is to stay in this village unharmed until we can find her shinobi records. She agreed to it and said that we had one month to find them."

"She agreed to that?" Kakashi couldn't believe what he had just heard. The Hokage was bargaining with the enemy?

Tsunade shrugged and said, "She was also the one who set the time limit. I wonder why so short though…"

Kakashi then bowed to her and left. In his mind, though, he thought of the Hokage as a foolish person. The Hokage makes a bargain…the enemy sets the rules…they come to an agreement…a very foolish idea. Who knew what the girl could have been planning. She could have even been thinking the destruction of the Leaf Village at that exact moment! Damn the fates, why couldn't the Hokage have just executed her at that fixed moment?

_Well now, since the Hokage's nickname just happens to be the 'Legendary Sucker' and she's gambling the safety of the village, I'd say we're all doomed, _Kakashi thought cheerily as he took out his book. _Oh well, I say that it's up to my team and me now. I'm sure Naruto would be more than happy to help, Sasuke…maybe…and Sakura will only help if Sasuke will. Look out Sasha Tsumane. You won't get to complete your mission, not on our watch. We'll stop you. Whatever it takes, we will stop you._

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**The next day…**

Sunlight poured in through the makeshift window as Sasha dozed on and off. She was sprawled out on her futon (A/N: If I said sleeping bag in the beginning, I meant to say futon.), her arms and legs jutting out in different directions. She looked content lying there, and she would have gotten more sleep if a certain someone hadn't suddenly screamed in her ears.

"Zzzz…more ramen please…miso with barbequed pork please…side order of rice…zzzz…" Sasha muttered as she smacked her lips, thinking of—you guessed it—ramen.

**_Nmph mmm…eh? What time is it? _**The certain annoying someone asked as they woke up.

"Zzzz…"

**_Hmmm, the kid's still asleep…_**

"…Three orders of dumplings with my ramen…and a jumbo can of red bean broth…"

**_…And she's dreaming of food…_ **Maru said as she sweat dropped. **_Wait just a darn minute. Isn't something exciting supposed to happen today? Something like a…_**

**---------------**

**Begin flashback…**

_"Now, what time for the matches?"_

_"Tomorrow." Everybody turned to look at Neji. "We cannot start today because we need rest and practice, plus we need to stock up on supplies. This challenge will last three days. Tomorrow she will challenge Tenten; if she wins, then she may move up to the day after tomorrow to challenge me. If she beats me, then she may finally get the chance to fight Lee on Friday."_

**End flashback.**

**---------------**

**_…Something like a tournament match! Shoot, what time is it?! Kid, wake up! Kid! _**Maru shouted frantically as she tried to tap into her partner's mind. Sadly it never worked since she had managed to block her mind from Maru's while she slept.

"Can I get an egg in my ramen…with some extra fish pastries…?" The Tsumane asked as she gave an extra-loud snore. Maru then lost it.

**_WAKE THE HELL UP!! _**She screamed as Sasha leapt, literally, three feet off of her futon. She was a strange sight to behold, especially in the morning.

Her eyes were half-open slits with sleepy-looking eyes, which were molded into an annoyed expression. Half of her hair was sticking out in odd angles while her bangs were practically glued to her eyes. Her pajamas, which consisted of a black nightshirt with baggy red pants, hung loosely around her body. Her overall appearance would make someone think that she was an anorexic homeless. Her hands were clasped tightly over her ears.

"Geez, Maru, are you trying to give me a migraine or something? I already get whamming headaches from our 'conversations'." She asked in an annoyed voice as she rubbed her throbbing temples.

**_Cut the chitchat, kid. Do you remember the promise we made yesterday? The one about the tournament against the three brats?_**

"Yeah, but it's not 'til tomorrow," Sasha yawned as she ran her fingers through her messy hair. Maru just sighed wearily. The little hamster in Sasha's head was off duty in the mornings, so she couldn't really think.

**_Kiiiddd. Do I really need to explain to you every morning? _**Maru said as she rubbed her aching head (remember people, she's more like 'Inner Sasha', so everything she does is in Sasha's mind.). **_I'll say it anyway. Yesterday, we met that idiot who calls himself the 'greatest Jounin in all of the Leaf Village' and his Genin team. You decided to challenge the kid named Rock Lee in taijutsu. The Hyuga kid then interfered and declared that a three-day tournament would be held. You are supposed to fight the Chinese girl today, the Hyuga tomorrow (if you beat the Chinese first), and then finally Bushy Brow on Friday (if you manage to beat the member of the most feared clan). Since he mentioned it YESTERDAY, your first match is TODAY._**

Sasha was silent for a long time, which wasn't a good sign. She would soon explode any minute and would probably go into shock. In only a few seconds, the inevitable happened and Maru received nothing less than an EXCRUCIATINGLY-PAINFUL headache that kept her silent

"OH MY GOD!! If what you say is true, then I'm LATE!! Must hurry, now!" And with that said, she immediately began to clean herself up. Soon she was standing at the new door of the dojo dressed in her training outfit, in a record time of fifteen seconds. After pulling on her sandals, she then leapt into the trees and hurried off to meet her opponent and those to come.

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**Heh, heh, heh. You like? I decided to make this chapter a humorous one since I didn't have any ideas on how to change it. The words write themselves. Sorry if you were waiting for the battle on Tenten v.s. Sasha. Don't worry about it; I'll upload it tomorrow.**

**P.S. If you guys love my writing, leave reviews. Good or bad, I don't care. **


	11. Rising Dragons vs Senbon Cyclone

**Disclaimer: I gotta remember not to trust sources other that the truth...OROCHIMARU YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO DIE IN THE 20TH EPISODE!**

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In the ninth chapter: During her early morning training, a shinobi stumbles across Sasha. It turns out that it is none other that our favorite weirdo of a shinobi, Gai Maito. Since he found her to be a part of the 'passionate youthful fighters group', he considered her family. However, Rock Lee observed her and thought that she did not have the strength to fight against an enemy shinobi. This angered Sasha and forced her to declare a challenge against the Green Beast in taijutsu. On their arrival, Neji and Tenten overhear the challenge and convince the undercover Sand-nin to battle them as well. She would fight against Tenten first, Neji second, and finally Lee. Today is the first match, and let's see if Sasha can survive the Weapon Mistress... 

_**Maru's Voice **_-refers to when Maru is speaking to Sasha in her mind

_Thoughts/Flashbacks _- refers to when the character is thinking or having flashbacks

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We were all waiting in the stadium, the one where the Chunin Exams were held only a few months ago, waiting for Tenten's opponent. We were not the only ones there; Lee and Gai-sensei had skyrocketed their mouths off and told nearly every shinobi about the challenge. And so there we were waiting (with hundreds of others who were aching for the battle to begin) for that girl who called herself 'Saisha', the pathetic excuse for a Leaf ninja. I took note of her appearance when I first looked at her. 

First off, the girl's body was thin. It was far too thin even for a shinobi; it was the size of a tree branch…or maybe it was just her clothing. Every piece of her outfit was a size or two too large by the looks of it, and the fact that sash was tied tightly around her waist didn't help much. In truth, it only just made her look overweight rather than thin.

A rustling of wind announced her arrival. She appeared in front of us in a flash, which was rather surprising. One moment she's not there, the next time you blink she appears. Tenten will have to be careful with this opponent.

Saisha and Tenten seem to be having a quick conversation with one another. I wonder what it's about? A sudden clang of metal interrupted me from my thoughts as battle cries were heard. The first match had finally started. The question is…who will win?

Tenten flew back to gain some distance between herself and her opponent. The girl was fast, she had to admit that, and her weapon skills were very impressive as well. Not many in the Hidden Leaf could use senbon as effectively as her. To throw them with perfect power and speed, not to mention great aim, she had to have had years of experience. Of course, by simple observation, her skills were far from exact comparison to those of the Weapon Mistress.

While Tenten threw her kunai, she began to come up with a strategy. Saisha seemed to like leaping around like an acrobat while she dodged and also threw senbon at her whenever the chance came. Her senbon skills were too good to be the level of a Genin to beat; every time Tenten threw a kunai it was countered with a needle. Her eyes widened in surprise as Saisha suddenly appeared before her. She had wasted too much time planning!

Saisha came at her face with a punch, which she dodged but ended up getting kicking instead as the foot came round. She countered by pushing back with a punch of her own.

_CRACK!_

She pulled her hand back as it made contact with something very solid and very hard. Taking a look, Tenten was stunned to find that her fist had made contact with Saisha's own, which had not a mark in sight. Her knuckles (Tenten's) on the other hand were broken and bleeding and not to mention very numb from the blow, but that was not the end of her pain. Saisha finished her attack by spinning quickly and delivering a very high kick to her head.

Tenten threw a kunai and it was countered; Saisha threw a senbon, and Tenten countered it. The same cycle repeated itself over and over again. She didn't care how long it took, but Tenten was not ready to show Neji and Lee that she was weak! She had no choice now—she had to use that technique. She only hoped that she wouldn't kill the girl with it…

On the other side of the battle, Sasha was having a hard time fighting her opponent as well. No, not hard…challenging. There was no such thing as 'hard' to her, only 'challenging'. And she loved challenges more than anything, only this challenge was proving to be a bit on the high level.

_Damn it, _Sasha thought as she flung another senbon at the girl, who immediately threw another kunai to counter it_, This girl just won't give up! Every needle I throw ends up being countered; she's got some excellent aim, I'll give her that. But how to hit her directly while pushing away her other attacks...Ah-ha! Got it._

She threw another needle as another kunai hit it. Sasha then got into her weapon throw stance. It was time to use her ultimate weapon technique...Senbon Cyclone Embedment...The needles, if thrown correctly, would be able to counter any amount of kunai aimed at her and would also be small enough to slip through the oncoming onslaught and hit her target. In the case that some kunai slipped through, her chakra mixed with her circular motion and speed would create a small cyclone that would deflect any weapon or attack. It was the perfect attack, perfect defense, perfect offense. It was the perfect weapon for a wind user, then again for any accurate shinobi.

Raising an eyebrow at Tenten's sudden actions; she had just pulled out two scrolls and balanced them perfectly while forming hand seals; she readied her needles. If she was going to unleash her attack, it was now or never. Tenten suddenly leapt into the air and twisted the scrolls around her body, and then she pulled out a surprisingly numerous amount of weapons out of the concealed writings and threw them at her ground-ridden opponent.

"NOW!" Sasha cried out at she threw the senbon. Using her foot as support, she ran it across the dirt and began to spin in a circle. The winds began to gather up and eventually formed a large, thick, but real, cyclone around the fighter's body. With battles of past experience (throwing in one direction, I mean), she flung the needles towards Tenten. There they were, two weapon specialists using their deadliest most powerful techniques just to prove each other's strength to be greater. The needles countered and found their way through the thick kunai into Tenten's body and vice versa. The two soon collapsed from the endless pain.

Gai was very surprised, while Neji and Lee were shocked. Saisha had COUNTERED and BEATEN Tenten's 'Rising Twin Dragons', a technique that was deemed the ultimate offense…and yet was still countered! Lee was in extreme denial while Gai and Neji studied her technique.

"Hmmm, that technique she just used took chakra to create that cyclone…but a cyclone that size should have used up quite a bit of her chakra," Neji stated as he looked through her system with his Byakugan. "Gai-sensei, her chakra system shows no evidence that she used any chakra at all. It's as if the winds just did as she commanded them to."

"It may seem like that, Neji, but I know for a fact that she used chakra to create that cyclone. It may be because her body contains a high level of chakra. For any other shinobi, it would use up about a third of their chakra to be able to create a much smaller version of what she just made, but a shinobi with a large amount of chakra would only have to use about a fifth of their supply. However, that is not what concerns me.

What concerns me is the speed of the technique. From observation, the speed that she used is about the same level as Lee's when he takes his weights off. It is not impossible to gain that kind of speed, but it is very rare for one to have. You may have underestimated her, Neji. I hope you will not fall to same thing as Tenten might, tomorrow."

Neji glared at his sensei. "I'm not like Tenten. I do not succumb to the same tricks. Consider our fight to be her loss and my win."

Tenten hissed in pain as she yanked out a kunai that was lodged in the back of her knee, wincing as every movement sent a painful shiver throughout her body. The fight didn't go as smoothly as she planned. Saisha had created a sort of wind-like shield that blocked her kunai from their target and countered with her needles. The winds engulfed her kunai and used them against her, where her body ended up with more numerous wounds.

_Amazing, _Tenten thought as she continued to pull out the knives, _To be able to counter my Twin Dragons with simple needles…I guess we all underestimated her. She may look fragile and harmless, but she packs a real punch, literally. _She noted at how much her hand was swelling from the fist contact earlier. Her once normal fist was now the size of a grapefruit, and was continuing to swell up. As she looked up at her opponent, she saw her ripping out the stray kunai that were lodged into her leg. _It looks like a few of my weapons managed to break through the barrier. I wonder how she will react when I tell her of the poison on the blades…_

"Just telling you ahead of time, there's poison on those senbon in your body," she heard Saisha call out. Tenten froze. Poison on the senbon would mean…poison in her body?! Tenten quickly pulled out a small bottle of antidote and downed it in one gulp. Hey, you had to always be prepared for anything, right? Besides, the antidote that she just used was the strongest one made, and it could counter just about any new poison that was out. "By the way, did I mention that the poison I just used has no antidote? You have to let your body get rid of it naturally."

_Can things get any worse? _Tenten thought as her world went black and her body shut down. _Neji_…_Lee…Gai-sensei…I have failed you. I'm sorry; she's just too strong and fast for me. Lee, Neji, do your best and beat her! _Her last thoughts were, _Wait, if I was only fighting Saisha…then who was that girl who helped her?_

"Tenten is out," Neji said as he shut off his Byakugan eyes, "Her system is shutting down from whatever was on the weapons in her body. Nothing life threatening, but she will be needing rest for a few days." Lee quickly leaped off of the balcony and down to where the two kunoichi still lay, one out for the count and the other close to losing conciousness.

"Tenten!" Lee called out as he reached the spot where she lay. Turning to her opponent, he said "That was a great battle, Saisha! I'm sure Tenten received a great workout as well, and I hope that she will join us on our Spirit of Youth runs now that she has more stamina!" He helped her up and continued, "Will you join us as well?"

Saisha just blinked for a while as she tried to regain her focus. Finally she answered, "Uh, s-sure, Lee…" And Lee picked up Tenten's body and ran off just as she collapsed onto the earth, apparently unconscious. A sigh was then heard; it had come from her mouth, but it was not her own.

"Are you telling me that I have to drag your sorry ass?" came from her mouth as her body hoisted itself up and wiped off the stray dirt. "Kid, you are the worst ninja with the worst stamina that I have ever met. You have to be cared for and nurtured every time you pass out on me. I don't know what makes me think this…" The moment she said that her eyes opened, revealing a shade of purple slits instead of the usual blue along with a smile. Taking one last look at Gai and Neji, Maru trudged along through the Hidden Leaf Village. "…But there's something that I like about you."

* * *

**The first battle has been won, but the next challenger will not fall so easily. As Sasha recuperates, Kakashi is still out looking for her as well as the other ANBU black ops. He is close, and she does not have long. The time is ticking as Tsunade searches for her records...but where are they?**

* * *

_Teaser For a Later Chapter__: "There!" ANBU Wolf shouted as he threw kunai at the spot_ _where the imposter was previously. She had leapt at the last second, twisting and turning her body in a complicated pattern as she brought her foot down upon the ANBU's head. On impact the mask shattered, revealing the face that had not been seen for three days..._


End file.
